shattered
by tatty ted
Summary: The man she fell in love with had gone. - —Karen/Charlie.


**shattered**

She couldn't care less about his lies, they didn't hurt her! The thing that ripped her heart apart was the fact he loved somebody else.

She had been in a relationship with him for over twenty-two years, married for nineteen of those and together, they created three beautiful children.

He was the only man she ever set eyes upon, ever fell in love with and to find out he'd "fallen" out of love with her broke her heart. Of course, love didn't work like that. You were either still in love or were never in love in the first place!

She tried to make their marriage work but she couldn't deny that ever since their eldest daughter Bex had gone missing, their marriage broke down completely.

Every night and every morning, she told herself that maybe today her daughter would walk back into their lives and their lives would return to normal. She wished that every single morning but eighteen months later, she was still waiting for her wish to come true.

That's if wishes did come true!

She wanted to ask him a lot of questions. _Why? _Why did he feel the need to go behind her back? Why couldn't he sit her down and tell her that she was living in a fantasy world?

Tell her that no matter how many times she wished it, their daughter was never coming back. She knew what he thought. She knew he thought she was dead.

She didn't but if someone asked her why she thought different, she'd never explain. She knew most people thought she was clinging onto hope but her mother's instinct told her, her daughter was alive.

She just didn't want to come home! Even if she didn't want to come home, she could at least send a letter saying she was safe. At least she wouldn't worry _as_ much.

The night he left, they rowed for some terrible reason. You think she'd be grateful he was going but nursing a broken heart wasn't going to be easy. She picked up the vase from the table, threw it at him and watched it shatter as it collided with the wall.

For that, he slapped her across the face. Instinctively, she slapped him back ten times harder and grabbing her arms, he pushed her into the glass cabinet. He picked up his bags and went after that and alone, in that silent house, she smashed everything up.

_Anything_ she could get her hands on!

For a split second, she lost her mind. Anything made of glass she smashed until she returned to reality. As she glanced around the room of destruction, the whole living room covered in glass, she slid down the wall, brought her knees to her chest and cried.

Uncontrollable sobs followed soon after and on her hands and knees, she crawled over to the phone. Picking it up, she just stared at it for a moment before she dialled the number of the person she wanted to speak to most right now.

When he answered, she sobbed; "He's left me."

* * *

The door was unlocked, that itself was unusual. As he stepped into the hallway, he heard her sobbing from the living room. Pushing the door open, his eyes glanced at the destruction she had created and careful not to step on any glass, he made his way towards her.

She was sat in the middle of the living room surrounded by glass, tears pouring down her cheeks. He had never seen her so fragile before. She had always been so strong, _too_ strong if he was honest with himself.

He moved the glass clearing a space for him to sit beside her and when he did so, he hugged her tightly.

"You haven't hurt yourself have you?"

It was just typical of him to ask that but as she shook her head, he noticed her palms were bleeding.

"You're bleeding." He whispered as he carefully took her palms in his. She said she was fine but he wouldn't listen and carefully lead her into the kitchen.

He cleaned her up as best as he could and she told him everything. Her broken marriage, her feelings and why she had to smash up the house the way she did.

Like a true gentleman he stayed, he listened to everything she had to say and reassured her that things would get better. Even if it didn't seem like that would.

It was getting late and he said he should be going but just as he said it, he heard her whisper that she didn't want to be alone tonight. He agreed to stay and that's how they ended up in bed. Together.

But nothing happened, she fell asleep in his arms and been the gent he was, he stayed up all morning watching her sleep.

_Because he loved her_!

* * *

**a/n**: if you like it enough to favourite, please leave a review.


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